The Silence
by ineffectual
Summary: Come, join us in this crusade of truth, and find out who you really are.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

The body was at the back of the alley.

Wailing sirens and the chatter of police officers and radios drifted up into the neon-lit haze as exclaiming throngs of people and monsters swarmed and crowded and shoved behind yellow security tape to get a better look at the body. A tall dragon-like beast towered over the group of humans and their partners, pushing back anyone who got too far. Under the bright glare of the neon signs and the police photographer's lights, there was no avoiding the gruesome sight.

The corpse's glazed eyes stared vacantly up at the sky, its mouth sagging slightly in slack terror. There were no abrasions or open wounds to indicate the cause of death. It simply looked like a broken doll that had been carelessly cast away in the snow.

This mess had once been a boy.

A young tamer, to be more specific, for the distinctive gleam of a digivice hung from his waist, shattered and broken. A Lopmon—presumably belonging to the tamer— hovered over the body mournfully, its sobs lost in the chaotic din of sirens and indistinct voices.

The police department was utterly baffled.

There were no splashes of blood on the ground, no spray on the walls, no blood spilled from open wounds. The body was drained of blood.

The reason for that was immediately apparent, if not jaw-droppingly impossible.

The corpse lay in the center of a massive symbol, scrawled in what was presumably the boy's own blood. It had been done meticulously and precisely, with painstaking attention to detail. There was no spatter, no drips. The lines were neat and perfect. The symbol's perimeter extended outwards, and within the closed circle there were lines of ancient symbols, which nobody present at the scene could decipher. It was one large insignia of blood.

The sirens continued to wail, glowing red and blue. The photographer's lights were still flashing in blinding, jagged rhythms. Amongst the teeming, exclaiming crowds, one man stood out. His skin was deathly pale, gleaming pink and orange in the glare of the neon lights and the blue-red of the sirens. He wore a crisp black dress suit, with a black tie and black pants.

Nobody noticed that his irises were an intense, vivid shade of red.

The man calmly took in the scene, his face expressionless. He was eerily still and calm amid the turmoil. Nobody seemed to notice him at all.

A woman's voice rang out behind the man, and he turned. "How do you do, Daimon?"

Daimon nodded in pleasure. "If it isn't Lilith."

The woman had a lovely, lean body under a black dress that contrasted her pale skin. Her hair was black, flowing in silky rivulets across her bared shoulders and draping just over her black lace corset. At first glance, her eyes could have passed for deep brown, but as a flash of the photographer's light illuminated her slender face, they briefly blazed red; the same shade as Daimon's eyes. Her lips curved up in a gentle smile. "Of course it's me."

"I'm here on business. Coincidentally, it was to find you." He gestured at the corpse of the tamer in the alley. "But why would leave it in public? This _is_ your work, is it not?"

Lilith shrugged, indifferent. "Well…yes, I killed him, if that's what you're asking."

"He's quite displeased with you, by the way. He sent me out to find you, and here I find this...thing. That was quite a job you did. You and your curses, Lilith. Must you be so cruel?"

Lilith rolled her eyes. "Ha! That silly kid tried to fight me. _Me!_ With an absurd Lopmon. _Honestly._" She shook her head, smirking. "Well, it'll teach them a fine lesson." When she saw Daimon's glare, she lowered her head, mumbling under her breath "…What?"

"Lilith, what do you intend to gain from this meaningless malice?"

The woman brought her hand to her chin thoughtfully. "That Lopmon…I think he could be useful for a little while. We could use someone from their species…however stupid or foolish as they are, they can do astounding things sometimes."

"Don't tell me…" Daimon's eyes narrowed slightly.

Lilith grinned wickedly. "It'll help us recover what was stolen from us. That should make our master happy."

Daimon's face darkened. "You hold a deep bitterness against the humans. You foolishly consider yourself above them—"

"But we _are_ above them, Dai! We…we should have been _respected_ and _feared._ But no! They take our lands, they use us to fight for their own glory and gain. Without us, they're weak! And the tamers! Those stupid, hateful _tamers_. Strutting about in our wilderness as though the land belonged to them!"

Daimon held Lilith's gaze with cold eyes. "Lilith, listen to what you're saying. You just killed a young child, corrupted his partner's data…and then you're going to use it to your own advantage, use the poor monster like the humans use us. Although they can be foolish, they can also hold unimaginable kindness and wisdom. We need the humans, and they need us. Please... do not become like the worst of them, Lilith."

Lilith shook her head stubbornly, glaring at the man with a curious mixture of rage and anguish.

"I just want our mother back! I-is that so much to ask…Dai?"

He was silent.

Lilith's face suddenly crumpled, and she hastily wiped at one eye with the back of her hand. It was a strangely innocent, childlike gesture, and the man drew back slightly, uncertain. It was unnerving to see her suddenly so weak...

"Lilith…"

_"You be quiet!"_ She hissed with a renewed rage, and quickly rearranged her face into a composed, flawless mask. The tremor and the tears had retreated, and the wall was up again.

She turned away as a particularly strong gust of wind whipped her hair about wildly. The hair blurred in motion, her skin writhing under her back…and _wings_ sprouted out. Her feet thumped against the asphalt as the woman launched herself into the air in a series of graceful, arching leaps, and suddenly she was on the roof of the brick building overlooking the alley, ignored by all else.

The woman stood poised, trembling slightly. She stood there, glaring down at the crowd and the pale-faced man, then turned and fled into the night.

The man gazed upwards at where the woman had previously stood. He turned away.

A few feet away where the throngs of massed people spilled over and ended at the curbs and the ice-glazed streets began, a man slipped out the rear of the crowd and slowly stalked away into the dark asphalt road.

High above the skyscrapers, the slight curve of the moon slowly faded behind foreboding black fog.

* * *

A/N: Woo, another original tamers story. 

and guess what there might be shoujo-ai or whatever you guys call it these days

Only because I was looking at two of the character's relationships and I figured that someone might see some deeper relationship implied and freak out and stuff so yeah. If you're the type to freak out about two girls getting together then _maybe _you just might wanna skip out on this one.

toodles


	2. Chapter 2

One:

He had bought a single wrapped lily; that was all he could find in the flower shop. If he had remembered to buy flowers beforehand, he would've preordered a bouquet instead. It would've been filled with white lilies, the ones that were planted out in the fields in summer.

So why didn't he go to another flower shop? He'd say that the lone lily reminded him of the harshness of life and sparked a sense of courage and determination. Of course, it was merely a sentimental lie. He was simply short of money. A bouquet of lilies cost far more than the money had had on hand, so when the kind receptionist offered a small discount, he agreed. She even tied a pink ribbon around the delicate tissue paper holding the flower, smiling apologetically.

"Is this for your girlfriend?" she asked softly, fingering the petals.

"No…just a friend," he replied. She nodded, as if understanding, and left it at that.

* * *

Year after year, he had insisted on delivering the same present. Beyond the bulk of the city, there was a secluded area, where the lonely graveyard was.

"I'm back," he announced. It felt eerie, standing in front of the grave, and it reminded him of how much he wanted to leave. "I, er...I brought a flower." He shrugged helplessly, setting down the lily.

"Look, the flower lady had none left. I did the best I could." He mindlessly kicked the ground, spraying dirt on the grave.

An awkward silence. He averted my eyes toward the sky.

"So…did I tell you about dad's divorce?" he hesitated. "Oh…yeah, I forgot. That was way back last year. Well, everything's fine…I'm living with mom, and dad's found another girl. She's really pretty…I think you would've liked her. I like her." Okay, that was a lie and he knew it, but why did it matter? No one was listening.

He kicked at the ground again, trailing his eyes towards the gravestone with the single lily safely tucked in the bottom, safe from dirt. Traces of a sad smile tugged at his lips.

"So…everything's the way it should be. Everyone's doing just fine. I don't think you should worry, wherever you are. As you can see, we're all content here." He paused briefly. "I just want you to know I have a life. Hard to believe, isn't it?" he asked, laughing lightly.

He bent down, and out of odd compassion, touched the lily one last time. It would die and rot here, inevitably mixing into the earth, into places where he hopefully wouldn't end up in for a long time.

"Happy Birthday, Arista," he whispered, before turning away and leaving.

* * *

The old woman stomped out of her house, staring at the girls standing before her. She waved her broom around wildly, rasping shrilly. "Just you wait! I'll have that Kumamon!"

The girls looked at each other, the blonde nodding to the dark-haired one. The blonde smoothed her skirt out, looking at the short digimon in an attempt to keep a sense of authority. "Look, ma'am, just calm down for a moment. I'm sure that it was all an accident. I'm sure you two can work things out through compromise…"

The Babamon wasn't listening. She muttered things under her breath, her broom jittering in her clutches. The dark-haired girl slowly and carefully edged away from the scene.

"…and you will do as a side!"

That was the cue. The girls quickly scurried away as the lunging woman threw a storm of fire their way, the quickly door slamming shut after them. They made their way down into the long grass and leaned against the fence to recover.

"I don't think that Kumamon is going to get his hat back anytime soon," the dark-haired girl murmured in thought, tugging her sweater closer to her body.

"Yeah," the other girl said, looking over the fence and waving at the house. Babamon, who was looking through a window, quickly ducked down and closed the curtains. The girl grinned and ducked back down, zipping up her jacket. "…that madwoman!"

"The nearby village always said that she had an exotic appetite…"

"Exotic? She said that she wanted to eat me! _Me_! It's not polite, you know, eating someone right after she introduces herself!"

"Or prior."

"…True." She stood up, twirling her hair with one hand. "Come on, we should go back to the village. I don't think Matadormon can handle playing with all of those little kids for long…"

The younger girl smiled at this. "Oh dear…"

* * *

Not too far away, there was a small village in the middle of the forest, with small houses and huts were packed tightly together. Near the entrance of the village, a tall, cloaked monster stood, a red rabbit-like creature on his shoulder. He would have looked much more menacing if it weren't for the mob of tiny in-trainings clambering and climbing on him.

"Wow! This is _so_cool!"

"Look at those swords! Can I have one?"

"When I digivolve, I wanna look like this guy!"

The monster twitched angrily. "All you children…go on, get off of me!" He waved his leg to kick off a Motimon. "My body is not meant to be climbed on! Or slept on, for that matter!"

The dozing Elecmon opened up one eye lazily. "Well, I don't see you doing anything about it…"

"Oh really?" The ultimate waved his arms. "Well, I'm afraid that I'll just have to force you off…with my super omega ultimate attack…the Matador Finishing Faze…" He spun and flung out his arms, several long rapiers whipping out of the folds of his cloak. "_X_!"

"Oh, give me a break…" As ridiculous as it was, the Elecmon knew the ultimate long enough to know that the monster was being serious. The Elecmon closed his eyes and tucked his head back into the cloak.

"That's amazing!" The in-training digimon gazed up in awe, gathering around Matadormon once more.

"Halt! Stop it, all of you! Get off, or else I shall use my arsenal of_burudoggu_techniques on you all!"

"Wow!"

"Yeah!"

"I wanna see!"

Matadormon lowered his head. "Ugh…Miss Zeffy, please come back soon…"

* * *

Foehn walked into his house, taking off his shoes with a sigh. Another day…at least today was Saturday. That was something.

He walked into the living room, which was drafty, as usual. The TV wasn't turned on, so the room was silent, except for the occasional rustle of pages as his mother flipped through a book. He stopped to look at her for a moment. She was sitting in her favorite set of pajamas, with a mug of something warm on the table beside her chair. She was so engrossed in her book that she didn't even notice his arrival, which was usual of her.

He was closer to her than anyone he knew, even his father. He looked more like his mother, too. They both shared the same light brown hair, although his hair was always messy, unlike his mother's. He loved his mother dearly, as she was his grounding force and his moral support.

"Good morning, mom," he said as he sat in a chair close to her, draping his coat against the back of the chair. She was still oblivious to his presence. "That must be a good book," he said a bit loudly.

"Oh! Good morning, Foehn," said his startled mother, her eyes jumping up from the page. "Yes, it is a good book. Eleanor recommended it to me and it's very exciting!"

"Well, that's good."

She nodded with a smile, her gaze turning back to the book. "So, what do you have planned for today?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'll go downtown for a walk later."

His mother nodded with approval, and he turned to the TV, putting his feet up on the hassock and grabbing the remote control. Quietly, he began flipping through the channels, noting with a frown that there was static on the screen, no matter what channel he watched. He studied the screen, which was covered in a fluctuating wave of snowy static.

"I think there's something wrong with the TV," he thought aloud.

"Hm?"

"The screen. Look at it."

She looked up reluctantly, frowning at what she saw. "Is it plugged in wrong?"

"No…let me check." He walked over to the TV, pulling the cabinet it was on away from the wall. He noticed the wallpaper had been chewed away slightly, and a vent in the wall had been shoved open. There was also a slightly frayed extension cord attached to the TV.

At this new discovery, an uneasy knot grew in his stomach. There was enough room between the cabinet and the wall for something to squeeze through…it could have been a rat, but a rat couldn't break open the vent.

"Mom? Can you go get a broom? There's something in the vent…"

Foehn stared down into the vent, biting back his fear. Maybe it was a cat. He opened up the vent, squinting down the shaft. Sure enough, there was something furry stuck inside of there…and it wasn't a cat or a dog. He quickly snapped out of the shaft, his eyes squeezed shut and panted, holding a hand over his chest.

He had to calm himself…this was a _little_irrational. It was only a little monster, right? It couldn't do much harm. But he had heard stories about how these monsters could do such horrible things…but this was only a small one. Could it…could it…could it kill him?

His mother returned, looking worried. "Is something wrong?"

"I…I think it's a digimon."

She relaxed slightly. "Well, let's see what it is. Go on, try getting it out—but be gentle!"

Be gentle? It was a digimon, for crying out loud! He stared down the ventilation shaft, biting his lip. There was a tail…he could just grab that, and pull it out. How would the creature react? Would it bite him, or kill him, or what?

"Don't just sit there, Foehn! Go in and grab it!" She waved the broom in his face.

Foehn sighed, shoving his hands inside and grabbing the creature's tail.

There was a soft growl from inside the metal shaft, and Foehn pulled out the creature by the tail, placing his feet against either side of the opening. Eventually, he had to reach in and pull out the creature by its legs when the tail was pulled out of his grasp, and the creature tried scrabbling away from the human.

Foehn groaned, giving one last pull to pop the creature out. "There! Now hit it!"

His mother simply smiled. "Look at it! It's _cute_!"

Foehn looked at the monster with an abject look. It was some odd purple dog-like creature, with a weird red stone embedded in its forehead. Really, it did not look at all cute. It was a monster, not a puppy like his mother was acting like it was. After all, it had tiny black wings on its back, and its front legs were much shorter than its hind legs were, the tail was way too long and the nostrils looked like two miniature black holes ready to suck in everything in sight. "Uh…I don't think so."

"Foehn, please! Why would you even think about hitting something like this?"

"Because it'll potentially try and bite my hand off?"

"Can't you see that it's weak?" The creature was lying on the ground, breathing heavily and its eyes half-opened. "We need to take care of it!"

"Mom, you say that about every injured animal we meet! You're too caring!"

"There's no such thing as that! Make a bed for it, Foehn."

"Mom! It's a digimon, for god's sake!"

"We're taking care of it, Foehn," she said sternly, her tone suddenly changing. "You need to get over what happened to your sister. Until you do, you will never be happy. I have watched you for so long, just an empty shell of the boy you once were. You used to be filled with such spirit, but now…" She shook her head. "I know what happened. I know that a monster has taken away so much from us—our family. I have moved on, Foehn, and I suggest that you do the same. Now go get a box."

Foehn shut his mouth, his head swimming. The articulate, contrived nature of her tirade could not have been improvised given the short period of time. She must have had that in her head for a long time, ready to pull it out at the right time. But what had made it the right time?

That digimon.

With a sigh, he got up onto his feet and walked to the closet.

"Besides, you can have a partner now! After all, just about everyone else at your school has one, right?"

Foehn rolled his eyes. "Yeah."

* * *

A/N: Euh, more boring angsty expositional stuff. Next chapter we should get some happy-fun-time with exciting stuff and action and _wow_!

And as a warning I abuse dashes and ellipses. You can probably see the ellipses abuse already, but I restrained myself as much as I could with the dashes. If I'm not careful, the dashes make me look like Emily Dickinson in novel form, and it looks worse than it does with the ellipses.

So I had laryngitis and cold...that wasn't nice. Then it turned out that I was taking my medicine wrong. Two pills instead of one? Ugh...anyway, I started following the instructions and now I am getting better. Yay.

Blargh!


End file.
